Telstar (song)
"Telstar" is a 1962 instrumental record performed by The Tornados. The song reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in December 1962 (the second British recording to reach No. 1 on that chart in the year, after Stranger on the Shore in May), and was also a number one hit in the UK. It was the second instrumental single to hit No.1 on both the US and UK weekly charts Backgroundhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telstar_(song)&action=edit&section=1 edit The record was named after the Telstar communications satellite, which was launched into orbit on 10 July 1962. It was written and produced by Joe Meek, and featured a clavioline, a keyboard instrument with a distinctive electronic sound. "Telstar" won an Ivor Novello Award and is estimated to have sold at least five million copies worldwide. This novelty record was intended to evoke the dawn of the space age, complete with sound effects that were meant to sound "space-like". A popular story at the time of the record's release was that the weird distortions and background noise came from sending the signal up to the Telstar satellite and re-recording it back on Earth. It is more likely that the effects were created in Meek's recording studio, which was a small flat above a shop in Holloway Road, North London. Plagiarism claimhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telstar_(song)&action=edit&section=2 edit A French composer, Jean Ledrut, accused Joe Meek of plagiarism, claiming that the tune of "Telstar" had been copied from "La Marche d'Austerlitz", a piece from a score that Ledrut had written for the 1960 film Austerlitz. This led to a lawsuit that prevented Meek from receiving royalties from the record during his lifetime, and the issue was not resolved in Meek's favour until three weeks after his suicide in 1967. Austerlitz was not released in the UK until 1965, and Meek was unaware of the film when the lawsuit was filed in March 1963. "Magic Star" and other vocal versionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telstar_(song)&action=edit&section=3 edit Meek produced later in 1962 a vocal version of "Telstar" titled "Magic Star", sung by Kenny Hollywood. It was released as a single by Decca Records (cat. nr F11546), with on the B-side "The Wonderful Story of Love", written by Geoff Goddard. The musical direction for both songs was done by Ivor Raymonde. "Magic Star" was covered by Margie Singleton, released by Mercury Records (cat. nr 72079) in January 1963, backed with "Only Your Shadow Knows". Piero Umiliani made a Moog version in 1975 under the name:"L'ingegner Giovanni e famiglia"( Engineer Giovanni And His Family) Two Spanish vocal versions were released by Alberto Cortez and the Latin Quartet, titled "Magica Estrella." Poet and musician Robert Calvert wrote lyrics to accompany the song, which he performed in 1981. In 1986, Scottish duo the Knits sampled the original sounds and mixed them with text excerpts from Marx's "18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon". Their song was called "Passivism". With French lyrics by Jacques Plante, the song was released by Les Compagnons de la chanson under the title "Telstar - Une étoile en plein jour" (a star in broad daylight). Luxembourg-born German language singer Camillo Felgen recorded the German vocal version as "Telstar (Irgendwann Erwacht Ein Neuer Tag)" with lyrics by Carl Ulrich Blecher in 1963. Track listinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telstar_(song)&action=edit&section=4 edit #[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrEPzsx1gQ&feature=fvwrel Telstar] #''Jungle Fever'' Personnelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telstar_(song)&action=edit&section=5 edit The Tornadoshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telstar_(song)&action=edit&section=6 edit *Clem Cattini – drums *Alan Caddy – lead guitar *Roger LaVern – additional keyboards *George Bellamy – rhythm guitar *Heinz Burt – bass Otherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telstar_(song)&action=edit&section=7 edit *Joe Meek – composer, producer *Geoff Goddard – clavioline (on both sides), plus subtle vocals towards the end of "Telstar" *Dave Adams – transcription of Meek's composition recording Category:1962 singles